Tolls would cover estimated $7.3 million in annual expenses

BY SCOTT GUTIERREZ, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 8:01 pm, Thursday, May 26, 2011

The state's planned tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct will cost about $7.3 million per year to operate and insure, according to preliminary estimates, which is more than three times what the state pays annually for the viaduct.

When the state began preliminary design of the tunnel in 2009, it was estimated the tunnel's maintenance and operations budget alone would be about $5.3 million a year, compared to a $1.9 million annual maintenance budget for the viaduct.

But transportation officials say it's misleading to compare the nearly 60-year-old viaduct to the tunnel. The main reason: The viaduct doesn't meet current highway standards and is connected to the Battery Street Tunnel, which would have to be retrofitted and upgraded with many of the same systems as planned for the deep-bore tunnel to meet modern regulations for lighting, ventilation and traffic monitoring.

"One thing people should not focus on is the $1.9 million for existing conditions because those conditions are unacceptable," said Ron Paananen, project administrator for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement program.

Other options the state considered – a new elevated freeway, cut-and-cover tunnel along the waterfront, or retrofit of the existing viaduct – would have relied on about $250 million in upgrades to the Battery Street Tunnel. Under the deep-bore tunnel replacement plan, the Battery Street tunnel would be sealed off and decommissioned.

"No matter what we build, maintenance costs will be in the range of $4 million to $6 million," Paananen said. "The reason is all the alternatives rely on a tunnel of some sort, whether it's a longer tunnel or continued use of a shorter tunnel, namely the Battery Street tunnel."

At 58 feet in diameter, the planned 1.7-mile, double-decker tunnel would be the largest-diameter deep-bore tunnel in the world when it opens in 2015 or 2016. The entire tunnel replacement plan is budgeted at $3.1 billion.

WSDOT says estimates on annual operating costs are preliminary and that more exact figures will be known as the joint-venture selected to build the tunnel gets further into the design process. The state inked a $1.4 billion contract last year with Seattle Tunneling Partners, but construction can't begin until after the environmental impact statement process is finished later this year.

Covered by tolls

State lawmakers approved $400 million in tolls to back bonds to help pay for construction of the massive project. But tolls also will cover annual expenses for operating, maintaining and insuring the tunnel, accounting for about 13 percent of toll revenue, according to a 2010 study by the state's transportation consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff, obtained through the state's open records law.

"When toll revenues are used to repay bonds, the financial market typically requires that gross toll revenues be first pledged to cover the toll facility's operations and maintenance expenses prior to making debt service payments," the report says. "This ensures that the facility and related assets are well-maintained and able to continue their revenue operations to provide an acceptable level of service to facility users."

Estimates include:

About $2 million each year would come right off the top for insurance premiums. Bonding requires the tunnel be insured in case it is damaged in a natural or manmade disaster and traffic is interrupted, which would impact revenue to pay back bondholders.

Operations and maintenance, including a tunnel crew of about 20 and supplies, would cost about $4.2 million.

About $1.1 million for utilities and tunnel maintenance and emergency response vehicles.

That would still leave more than sufficient revenue to cover debt service on bonds, according to the study. Net revenue could be up to 20 percent lower than expected and "still be sufficient to cover debt service costs," according to the study.

Tolls are expected to generate about $20 million annually in net revenue by 2017 once costs for operations, insurance, toll administration and credit card fees (for people who pay tolls electronically) have been deducted, according to the study.

By 2030, the state estimates toll revenue to climb to about $65 million to $75 million per year. That figure accounts for inflation at 2.5 percent each year and assumes that more traffic will use the tunnel by then.

Under the state's most likely scenario, tolls would cost between $1 and $4 when it opens to traffic in 2016. But the state also assumes that tolling will divert about 46,000 vehicles, or about half of predicted tunnel traffic, to Interstate 5 and city streets at the outset because drivers won't want to pay. The viaduct carries about 110,000 vehicles per day.

Last week, a judge allowed a referendum on the August primary ballot that would allow Seattle voters a chance to make a statement on the tunnel by voting whether to repeal one section of three Seattle City Council agreements pertaining to the tunnel project. Another citizen initiative, I-101, also aims to stop the project.

State officials says a so-called surface-transit alternative is not a viable option. Tunnel proponents, including business and labor groups, argue that it's time to move forward on a long-debated project and that not having the tunnel would leave no capacity for traffic and grind downtown streets to a halt. And WSDOT officials say they still have plenty of time to figure out how to address diversion.

25 million kilowatt-hours

The tunnel's utility bill, WSDOT estimated in 2009, would be about $875,000 per year, although it could be higher depending on the rate and specifications developed in the tunnel plan. WSDOT estimated about 25 million kilowatt-hours annually to power the lights, electronic signs, traffic cameras and giant ventilation fans to blow out vehicle exhaust, according to the state's supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

For comparison, the 1.3-mile Downtown Transit Tunnel uses about 8 million kilowatt-hours. But the bored tunnel will be longer, with more travel lanes (four vs. two), and require more ventilation since it will be deeper underground and will carry cars, as opposed to hybrid buses and light rail.

The average Seattle home uses about 9,000 kilowatt-hours annually, according to Seattle City Light.

24-hour operation

The state DOT estimates $2.5 million per year for a maintenance crew of 17 to 20 full-time employees. The maintenance staff will include one program supervisor, four second-level supervisors, 10 tradesmen and four general laborers and an IT computer technician. Maintenance trades include plumbers, millwrights, electricians, and general laborers/roadway workers.

At least one tunnel operator and supervisor will be on-duty at all times during what will be a 24-hour operation. The tunnel also will have a facility manager and an administrator who will work in the administrative office, which will be housed in one of the large tunnel operations buildings that will be built at each portal.

It also will include three full-time incident response workers, of which two will be on-duty at all times during peak hours. Their primary function is to "monitor the condition of the Alaskan Way corridor and implement responses to incidents in accordance with a defined procedure." An incident-response vehicle will be posted at each end of the tunnel. Private wreckers and towing services will be on-call to clear the tunnel in the event of a wreck.

The state partly bases its cost estimates on the Interstate 90 tunnel through Mount Baker, while considering the fact that the State Route 99 tunnel would be longer and further underground. The Mount Baker tunnel's operations and maintenance budget is about $3.4 million per year, a viaduct project spokeswoman said. Its electricity costs are about half of what is expected with the deep-bore tunnel.

To potentially keep costs lower, WSDOT is exploring whether it can share tunnel maintenance staff between the State Route 99 tunnel and the Interstate 90 tunnels through Mount Baker and Mercer Island.

The tunnel's traffic cameras and systems will be linked by fiber-optic cable to WSDOT's traffic control center in Shoreline, which will become WSDOT's "central command." "Local controls will allow the on-site maintenance personnel to monitor the tunnel systems status from both portal buildings," the report says.

The cost estimates were based on unit prices for labor, material and equipment derived from a recent study of the proposed Port of Miami Bored Tunnels as well asa review of WSDOT cost data on the I-90 tunnels, according to the report.